Looking for Cronuts? Gertrude's has Croi-nuts!

Gertrude's executive pastry chef Doug Wetzel holds a plate of Croi-nuts. A different version of the pastry has been added to Gertrude's menu.

Gertrude's executive pastry chef Doug Wetzel holds a plate of Croi-nuts. A different version of the pastry has been added to Gertrude's menu. (Richard Gorelick, Baltimore Sun photo)

Richard GorelickThe Baltimore Sun

You've heard about the Cronut? Introduced on May 10 at Dominique Ansel's self-named bakery in New York City's Soho neighborhood, the Cronut (the name is trademarked) is the biggest pastry sensation to hit Manhattan since the Magnolia Bakery cupcake craze of the late 1990s.

Essentially, the Cronut is part croissant, part doughnut; but the making of a true Cronut is more elaborate than just frying up croissant dough like a doughnut, according to Dominique Ansel's Cronut 101.

Daily reports on New York-based food blogs - and elsewhere - have been faithfully documenting the rise of Cronutmania - the long lines, the per-customer limits, the imitators and the inevitable backlash.

This week, Gertrude's unleashed their version of the Cronut, which they are calling "Croi-nuts." They're the invention of Gertrude's executive pastry chef Doug Wetzel, who has re-imagined the pastry as a restaurant dessert item. Instead of the traditional doughnut shape, Wetzel's Croi-nuts are served as doughnut "holes," with whipped cream and a lemon curd sauce and mixed-berry compote for dipping.

The Croi-nuts debuted at Gertrude’s on Tuesday and will remain on the menu indefinitely.